See what people are saying:

The Huffington Post’s Move Your Money Big News Page

Scott Thill at AlterNet – March 9, 2010

Horrific news surrounding the too-big-to-fail banks continues to march onward into absurdity. A rapacious Bank of America forecloses on a house that’s already paid for. Goldman Sachs hides Greece’s hundreds of billions in debt until the entire country is a toxic asset to the global economy. Henry Paulson baldly admits that his tenure as Goldman Sachs’ CEO helped him rob American taxpayers of trillions. Media, political and financial hypocrites hilariously continue to insist that homeowners shouldn’t walk away from underwater mortgages as banks walk away with cash stuffed in their high-end underwear. The frustrated public would laugh, but it’d have to pull the financial gun out of its mouth first.

So it is with predictable Newtonian blowback that a move-your-money zeitgeist has taken hold, thanks to AlterNet’s reality-based efforts as well as those of the Huffington Post and others. Yet those clarion calls for the public to transfer its cash away from grifters like Bank of America have thus far excluded the responsible and productive credit unions that serve our economy on a non-profit basis. Closing your account with a predatory behemoth is good, and there are indeed plenty of for-profit community banks out there (like the bank portrayed in It’s a Wonderful Life) that would make a good home for your paychecks. But the right credit unions can provide even more punch to your pocketbook.

Phil Billington at the Crossville Chronicle – March 9, 2010

Finding an independent community bank is not enough. It is important to move your money to a safe bank that actually serves your banking needs and not one involved in risky investment deals. I moved our money to a local bank (headquartered in Oklahoma) because it was the prudent thing to do to protect our deposits. I agree that no bank, not even big Wall Street banks, is too big to fail. But it is delusionary to think that depriving them of your deposits will bring them down or somehow restructure the banking industry. They don’t care squat about your piddley deposits. Their interest is solely in their risky investment schemes, a predatory threat to capitalist America.

Jere Hester at NBC Bay Area – March 9, 2010

Huffington’s video, which debuted at the end of December, isn’t as entertaining, and is decidedly less subtle. She uses a mashup of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and recent news footage to encourage Americans to move their money from big banks to small ones – portraying the more humble operators as kin to George Bailey’s noble building and loan.

While the video has received less than one-quarter the views as the new Howard short, her effort – tied to a movement with the bluntly imperative title “Move Your Money” – might be having an effect. Pollster John Zogby, in his latest Forbes column, notes that one of his surveys shows nine percent of Americans have moved at least some of their money from big banks in protest of perceived Wall Street greed.

Huffington has been promoting the plan across the media, most recently on Friday’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” the humor-driven, irreverent talk show whose host supports the effort. “I’m the face of this,” comedian Maher said Friday, almost sheepishly.

Eileen Ambrose in the Baltimore Sun – March 7, 2010

A nationwide campaign to stick it to the big banks seems to have caught on with consumers who are withdrawing their money and moving on.

Huffington Post’s Move Your Money campaign has urged consumers for weeks to abandon banking giants that benefited from taxpayer bailouts but remain reluctant to lend. The campaign tells depositors to switch to small banks or credit unions that weren’t involved in the risky practices that caused the financial crisis.

Not only do some Marylanders appear to be heeding that call, but now some bigger customers are looking to make a break with the megabanks.

Hannah Fairfield in the New York Times - March 6, 2010

For the last year, big banks have grabbed a huge share of the headlines, and of federal bailout funds. But they don’t – yet, at least – hold all of the nation’s money. Small banks still dominate huge swaths of the country and hold nearly half of bank deposits over all.

Still, tales of reckless lending and huge compensation for executives have led to major animosity toward major banks. A “move your money” groundswell was ignited in January by Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post and Rob Johnson, director of the Economic Policy Initiative at the Roosevelt Institute. Their hope is to spur reform at megabanks by encouraging people to move their money to smaller community banks and credit unions.

Sean Brodrick at Uncommon Wisdom – March 5, 2010

Do you trust the big banks? I sure don’t. I think they’re so crooked they have to screw on their pants in the morning. The bailouts they’ve received by their bought-and-paid-for pals in Washington should be criminal. And the bad behavior was never punished, which increases the odds that the big banks are going to mess up big-time again. Do you think that Wall Street banks will get another bailout? I think that’s unlikely — the American people are downright furious! So I don’t want my money in their banks when the manure hits the fan AGAIN.

I’m happy to say that my family has joined the “Move Your Money” campaign. We’ve moved our money from a large, global bank to a couple of smaller, local credit unions and community banks. Community banks are typically more conservative about how they manage their money. I certainly don’t have to worry about them using my taxpayer dollars to hand out billion-dollar bonuses.

John Zogby in Forbes – March 4, 2010

We know that people are mad as hell about their tax dollars going to bail out big banks and Wall Street, and then seeing the recipients of their hard-earned cash rewarding themselves with million-dollar bonuses.

We also know that the blowback from the bank bailouts is one reason why incumbents, especially the majority Democrats, are in great jeopardy of losing their jobs in November. People can’t vote out big bankers, but we are finding evidence that some people are voting with their bank accounts and moving their business to community banks and credit unions. A recent Zogby Interactive poll found 9% of U.S. adults have taken some of their business away from big banks as a protest.

Will Moredock in the Columbia City Paper - March 4, 2010

Personally, my inspiration comes from another source. Jim Wallis is an evangelical minister and editor of Sojourners magazine and author of Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street.

In a recent Washington Post op-ed he wrote: “Clearly, the financial crisis is a structural meltdown that calls for increased government regulation of banks and other financial players. Members of faith communities…are helping to push for this sort of reform….

“I hope local congregations and national denominations alike will begin reflecting on where they keep their money and how their investments reflect their faith. I envision congregations creating checklists to evaluate who they do business with, and national church bodies considering where they should invest their pension funds.”
 And so I recently kissed my old bank goodbye. I now have my money and my credit cards with a small, Charleston-based bank. Yes, it was a bit of a hassle. It took a couple of hours to transact everything, to set up the new electronic checking and credit card deductions. But I am actually getting a higher yield on some of my money and there is another intangible benefit. I sleep better at night.

Martha Randolph Carr at the Wilson County News – March 2, 2010

There’s a new movement afoot that is quickly gaining ground called Move Your Money, www.MoveYourMoney.info, started by a handful of people who were tired of supporting failing institutions with taxpayer money.

Their idea is to go local and move your money from a large bank to a small, community run bank where you can know the owners and the profits support local endeavors. There’s even a place at the site to put in a zip code and receive a list of local banks with at least a B rating.

It’s a great example of how it’s possible to create change by banning together and taking small actions that impact the people and places right around you. It’s also got the nod from both liberals and conservatives, which is a minor miracle.
The movement is a response to the growing deficit and further calls for more bailouts. No one at the top of the political or financial food chain seems to get how frustrating it is to work long hours for a middle class income and then be told part of it was given away to overpaid executives who got themselves in trouble.

Tom Sutcliffe at the Independent – March 2, 2010

Time, surely, for me to do something. Market forces are the justification generally advanced for the inflation of salaries in the banking sector, and I’m a bit of the market – even if an admittedly negligible one. That’s no excuse for being negligent though – and in this regard ordinary consumers have been, perhaps out of a sense of individual powerlessness.

I have a vague memory that I voted against the demutualisation of the Halifax Building Society years ago, but I honestly can’t remember … and it’s entirely possible that I tossed the relevant paperwork in the bin in the belief that some corporate shareholder would make the decision for me anyway. Too late to change that foolish decision, unfortunately, but it isn’t too late to change my bank account
– as the American grassroots campaign Move Your Money has been encouraging ordinary consumers to do.

Set up by Arianna Huffington and Rob Johnson, and publicised on the Huffington Post, the idea was simple. Anyone concerned at the recklessness, greed and social indifference of the Wall Street casino banks should move their account to one of America’s very many small community banks. Huffington described it as a “withdrawal tax” on banks that had failed in their duties.

Wayne K Wilkins at Helium - March 2, 2010

The general theory and idea is that if you choose to store your money in a smaller, community bank rather than a globally dominating bank, you will in turn save more money and in turn increase your overall annual profits and savings. The drive is nothing more than a voluntary act attempting to save the public money in the current age of economically dominant recession and judging from the amount of press and praise that this campaign is receiving, apparently, it is going to work wonders.

Shiela Julson and Michael Timm in the Bay View Compass - March 1, 2010

Following a credit crisis, recession, and enormous taxpayer bailouts of even more enormous banks, the public mood toward the financial industry has soured.

In late 2009, Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post and her friends brainstormed a way to channel public outrage into meaningful structural change. They started a website (moveyourmoney.info), made a video featuring fictional community banker George Bailey from It’s a Wonderful Life, and the Move Your Money phenomenon went viral. Their goal was to empower consumers to change the system by pulling money out of America’s six largest banks-JP Morgan/Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs-so as not to support corrupt, economically destabilizing practices at the top of the wealth pyramid and instead support struggling local banks at the economy’s roots. In a New Year’s Resolution proposition at the Huffington Post, Huffington especially criticized those big, bailed-out banks for cutting lending and lobbying against financial reform.

Pradeep Kolla at CNM News – March 1, 2010

What each individual does with his or her own money is their own choice. The Move your Money initiative is great for those who want to focus on giving back to their communities. However, it may not be a good idea for every family or individual. It’s best to look at every angle of a decision and see what’s best for your personal situation, and then act accordingly.

Sheldon Traver at Willamette Live – February 28, 2010

For thousands of reasons, people across the nation are facing massive penalties from the big four banks: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citi and Wells Fargo, who are receiving taxpayer bailouts. Additionally, the bailouts, designed to get business moving again, have resulted in relatively few loans to small business owners, according to U.S. Treasury data.

In January, a seed was planted that is growing throughout the nation and around the mid-Willamette Valley. The Move Your Money movement, www.moveyourmoney.info, may have started with five New York high-rollers, but it is now sweeping the country with help from social media and public frustration.

Robert Mentzer at the Wausau Daily Herald – February 28, 2010

Lynn Klein, vice president of retail at Peoples State Bank in Wausau, said bank customers have to go where they are most comfortable. Community banks, she said, are often more accessible from top to bottom.

“You know that bank,” Klein said. “The management is local. The decisions are made locally. You have a better understanding of their makeup, and they’re part of your community, not an outsider.”

That can make the bank more responsive to customers, she said. And local banks like Peoples and many others are involved in direct sponsorship of community events and other local causes and institutions. Maybe above all, though, it is a more personal relationship than the relationship of a customer to a big, corporate bank.

Sindh Today - February 28, 2010

Anger among people against big banks is continued to swell. The banks are partly blamed for the slowdown in the economy. The blame is not limited to mortgage meltdown that led to crises but also the big bonuses executives received despite the slowdown.

“Move your Money” is the project that is aimed to get consumers to move away from biggest banks such as Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and the Citigroup. The project is focused to create awareness to move money to community banks or smaller banks.

Wall Street Pit – February 28, 2010

Arianna Huffington’s “Move Your Money” campaign — prompted by the huge growing gap between the fortunes of Wall Street banks and Main Street banks — continues to show that it has the capacity to cause a major power shift in our banking industry. “Move Your Money” movement — featured on CBS Sunday Morning — continues picking up steam.

Robert Johnson, who works with the Institute of Roosevelt, the progressive think-tank, where he helped craft the ["Move Your Money" campaign], says “all of us, collectively, do have money. And when we move our money, we’re voting with a different currency, and one that businesses pay attention to.”

Dan Wilson at Best Syndication News – February 28, 2010

Huffington calls this tactic a “withdrawal tax”.

The large banks along with hedge-funds and AIG were responsible for the crisis we are in. According to a report from CBS 60-Minutes, it wasn’t the sub-prime disaster that brought down Lehman Brothers; it was the gambling on those subprime mortgages in the way of credit default swaps (CDS). The failure of Lehman Bros started a domino effect that crashed the economy.

Lehman Brothers was not the only casino in town. The large banks also played the game. The smaller banks did not get involved but the collapse of the economy affected them as well.

Jimmy Downs at Foodconsumer - February 28, 2010

Move your money should be a national campaign to encourage individuals and governments to move cash to financial institutions that are more friendly to the local communities and citizens. We have read news stories saying that some big banks are taking foreclosed homes from home owners and sell the homes for their own interest – in a way to take the equity from the owners.

Eva Norlyk Smith at CreditCardGuide.com - February 26, 2010

In addition to the social impact of moving their business to credit unions and regional banks, consumers are finding a variety of other perks as well. Credit unions, for example, are member-owned and not-for-profit, and hence frequently offer higher deposit yields lower loan rates, and much better credit card terms.

Of course, there are practical considerations of convenience: small banks and credit unions may not have as easily accessible or widely distributed ATMs. Online banking may be less sophisticated, and bank location may not be ideal. However, many consumers have found that these disadvantages are easily outweighed by the advantages.

Kirsten Grind at the Puget Sound Business Journal – February 26, 2010

Lately, there’s been a lot of buzz about the national campaign to “Move your Money” to a local community bank or credit union.

Spearheaded by The Huffington Post, the grassroots effort urges customers to support institutions that aren’t “too big to fail,” the new catch phrase in the banking industry.

For consumers, the movement presents an interesting dilemma. On the one hand, community banks and credit unions are like the local book store or coffee shop — you want to support the “little guy.” But on the other hand, many community banks — especially in Washington state — are in trouble. Six have closed so far in the last year.

Sam Ali, Luke Visconti and Barbara Frankel at DiversityInc - February 25, 2010

In December 2009, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington launched an initiative called “Move Your Money,” urging Americans to do just that: move their money from big banks that helped trigger the financial crisis into smaller community banks.

“Think of the message it will send to Wall Street—and to the White House,” she writes on her blog. “That we have had enough of the high-flying, no-limits-casino banking culture that continues to dominate Wall Street and Capitol Hill. That we won’t wait on Washington to act, because we know that Washington has, in fact, been a part of the problem from the start. We simply can’t count on Congress to fix things. We have to do it ourselves—and the big banks are the core of the problem.”

Financial Advisor – February 25, 2010

But a growing number of community banks and credit unions are capitalizing on this frustration with campaigns encouraging customers to switch to a smaller bank and promising better service.

“Almost daily someone will call and say, ‘I’m bringing my accounts to you,’” says Mike Menzies, president and CEO of Easton Bank and Trust in Easton, Md.

Matt Miranda at the University of Minnesota’s student magazine the Wake - February 24, 2010

The distribution of wealth is stacked against the American public. But as a citizen, there are some things you can do to strike back.

MOVE YOUR MONEY! In a capitalist economy, businesses respond to market signals. If you keep your money in big banks, you send the message to them that you’ll continue to patronize them regardless of their behavior. Your money is used as capital to expand corporate and bank power instead of funding jobs and consumer loans. The concept is gaining nationwide momentum. Two of the biggest banks in the United States, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bankcorp, have a heavy presence in Minneapolis. Wells Fargo has an especially bad history of shady business practices. Check out the Independent Community Bankers of America at www.icba.org to find a community bank to move your money into. One excellent option, convenient to campus, is Franklin National bank, which has a branch located at 200 University Ave W. They offer all the services of bigger banks, including online banking and check cards.

Bruce Mulkey at Mountain XPress – February 24, 2010

Some might claim that switching from their current bank is too much trouble. But
the Move Your Money Web site (moveyourmoney.info) lays out a very straightforward process. Read the FAQs and checklist and then proceed to “Find a Bank/Credit Union,” where you can choose a local institution that meets your specific needs. (To view a list of highly rated WNC banks and credit unions, go to http://tinyurl.com/y882rsb.) Before moving your money, however, you’ll also want to check the institution’s safety rating and whether your deposits would be FDIC-insured.

With a little foresight and perseverance, you can make this change with grace and ease. And the rewards are huge — more personalized service, lower fees and higher interest, a focus on the needs of local families and businesses, and loans made where customers actually live and work. What’s not to like?

Andrew Leonard at Salon – February 23, 2010

Another difference between big banks and small banks? Big banks charge higher fees to customers for just about everything. The Baseline Scenario points us to a report by Stacy Mitchell at New Rules Projects with the details. Big banks charge more for overdrafts, more for bounced checks, more for ATM withdrawals. Smaller banks, meanwhile, offer higher interest rates on savings accounts and CDs.

Move your money. The little banks need it, and the big banks will make you pay through the nose for the privilege of keeping it with them.

Nynaeve at LouisvilleMojo – February 23, 2010

So, you’re frustrated, and you feel powerless. Well, don’t be an idiot and bulldoze your own house – just move your money. The idea is simple, yet powerful – if you have your money in one of the big four banks, find a small community bank or credit union, and move it there. I can already hear you saying “Who are you kidding, they aren’t going to care if I move my little checking account elsewhere,” and you’re probably right. But if you move yours, and your neighbors move theirs, and you can get your boss to move the company business account, and your church…you get the idea. If you don’t believe me, read the link at the bottom of the page about the small credit union that has doubled the number of new accounts opened, since this movement started.

So, what’s in it for you? According to Stacy Mitchell with the Community Banking Initiative, fees at the big banks are generally higher, and the interest you earn on savings is generally lower. I encourage you to read her article for further comparisons. (Yes, conservatives, I knows it’s on HuffPo, but this is a surprisingly bipartisan movement – so suck it up and read it anyway.)

Joe Parko at the Crossville Chronicle - February 23, 2010

Are you angry about the bailout of the big banks? Are you mad about the huge bonuses that are being paid to the executives of the big banks? As the saying goes — don’t get mad, get even. Here’s how you can act to fix this broken system:

Withdraw your deposits from the big banks that brought the system to ruin and had to be rescued with billions of taxpayer dollars. Put your money instead in smaller, safer banks or credit unions right here in our own community that do not profit from greed and recklessness. Think of it as a withdrawal tax on the big banks for the negative service they provide by consistently ignoring the public interest.

Elizabeth Ü at RSF’s Reimagine Money Blog - February 22, 2010

Moving your cash out of big banks and into local banks and credit unions is one way to move your money, but even this choice doesn’t address one of the major issues I have with banks, regardless of size: how are they lending the money I’ve deposited? Can you even find out if their lending practices align with your own values?

Two years ago, I embarked upon an effort to move my money away from Bank of America (where I had my checking account) and ING Direct (where I had the bulk of my cash savings, both in a savings account and in several laddered CDs), and into banks whose activities I felt were more aligned with my own values. In the case of Bank of America, I simply could not justify spending the majority of my waking hours working at RSF and thinking about how to invest in companies that were solving social and environmental problems, while much of my own savings were helping contribute to those problems.

David Morrison at the Credit Union Times – February 22, 2010

The $25 million dollar Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Manhattan, has doubled the number of new accounts it is opening, partly in response to the Huffington Post’s high profile effort called Move Your Money.

Move Your Money is a movement Post founder Arianna Huffington launched to help Americans move their accounts from the big national banks that were bailed out by the government.

Kevin Turner at the Florida Times-Union – February 22, 2010

A national push for people to drop big banks in favor of small ones and credit unions started several months ago with an Internet grass-roots effort at the Web site moveyourmoney.info. The Web site reportedly was started by a group of friends who seek to weaken the nation’s so-called “too big to fail” banks, saying they’ve become less friendly to customers while some have taken government bailouts to ensure their survival. The site lists local community banks and credit unions, based on a user’s ZIP code.

The campaign has picked up steam since; most recently, it’s been mentioned in national TV newscasts, such as by Diane Sawyer on “ABC World News Tonight” and on Web sites, such as the Huffington Post. New Mexico’s House of Representatives voted 65-0 a few days ago to allow the state to move $2 billion to $5 billion of state funds from big banks to credit unions and small banks, Huffington Post reported. The “Move Your Money” project lists more than 31,000 fans of its Facebook page.

Brent Hunsberger at the Oregonian – February 20, 2010

Deposits at the nation’s 7,800 nonprofit financial co-operatives are up 8 percent nationwide through the 12 months ending in September. They’re up 11 percent at Oregon’s 83 credit unions. By comparison, bank deposits are up 4 percent nationally and 9 percent in Oregon.

It’s all part of the backlash against big banks — their taxpayer bailouts, high fees and reluctance (or inability) to lend money. Witness the online “Move Your Money” drive, which encourages consumers to leave “casino-style Too Big To Fail banks and give their money to community banks and credit unions.”

Mark Davis at the Kansas City Star - February 19, 2010

All this “huff” about the bad big banks also raises an obvious but unanswered question: Why do so many people bank with the big banks? Bank of America, for example, has the third biggest slice of FDIC-insured deposits in the Kansas City area even though there are lots of viable alternatives.

Convenience is the biggest reason people bank where they do, and Bank of America’s branch network here is big. You’ll find Bank of America when you travel, too.

There may be good reasons to change banks, just like there may be reasons to change grocery stores, dentists, baby sitters, dry cleaners, etc.

Kimberly Weisul at BusinessWeek – February 18, 2010

Even as chain stores promote themselves as “local,” a wave of new national groups is backing independents. The 10% Shift asks shoppers to shift 10% of their purchases to local stores; Move Your Money wants you to move your bank account from a national outfit to a local bank or credit union. The rationale: Smaller banks usually are more supportive of small businesses, don’t pay huge bonuses, and didn’t get taxpayer-funded bailouts.

Carol Tice at Entrepreneur – February 18, 2010

Could small business owners solve the credit crunch themselves, by changing their banking habits? Some business groups think so. A 12-year old project to encourage more small business owners to bank with local community banks is picking up steam, now that we’ve had a year of big banks taking federal TARP funds while remaining tight-fisted on business lending. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project encourages business owners to move their money and their small-business borrowing to a local, community bank.

Citing data that shows communities with more locally controlled banks tend to have more business lending and a healthier small-business community, the Rules Project has teamed up with Move Your Money, a two-month-old initiative co-sponsored by the Huffington Post, the Roosevelt Institute, and others, that provides resources to assist companies in switching their business to a local bank. While Congress discusses how to prevent another rescue of banks deemed too big to fail, businesses could help end the era of megabanks by selecting a local financial institution.

Kevin Olsen at The Regional - February 18, 2010

Nearly 64 years after George Bailey’s friends and neighbors helped save his community bank in Frank Capra’s classic 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the same idea is sweeping the country.

Move Your Money urges depositors to switch their deposits from national banking chains to community banks owned locally.

Jason Cassidy at the Chico News and Review – February 18, 2010

While the reality of the equation might not be as simple as big banks=bad and local banks=good, the breakdowns in our economic system have people reassessing old models like the “too-big-to-fail” banks, allowing new ideas such as Move Your Money to change the way people do business.

“More and more people and businesses are looking for safe, sound community banks,” said Mark Francis, president of Chico’s Golden Valley Bank. “They want to know that their money is being used locally.”

Matt DeRienzo at the Register Citizen – February 17, 2010

With each of these local financial institutions, you can have confidence that money stays local and is reinvested in the community.

And if you have a problem, you can know that the top decision makers are accessible. They are your neighbors. They are involved in community organizations and serve on local boards.

The whole concept of “Move Your Money” is at the very least an opportunity to be grateful for what we have in this region in terms of solid community banks.

Jennifer Higgs at Axiom News - February 17, 2010

People who are disappointed with the failures of large banking institutions and want a more stable economy are taking action through moving their money into smaller community-based banks and credit unions.

This movement is a viral campaign called Move Your Money, which in a few months has seen thousands of people take the pledge to take their money out of large banks into community banks and credit unions.

Michael Santo at HULIQ – February 17, 2010

Is it worth it to switch? That’s a personal choice. One thing to remember, with a community bank, frequently there’s a George Bailey you can talk to, as opposed to someone across the country. That can grease the wheels, and help you out, perhaps even in the case of impending foreclosure.

Bob Driver at Tampa Bay Newspapers - February 16, 2010

Would you like to strike a blow against the fat cats of Wall Street, and at the same time strengthen your local economy? It’s easy. Just withdraw your assets from the big banks and place them with your home town banks, the small but reliable institutions that you pass each day on your way to work or shop.

If enough depositors did this, what might it accomplish? For one thing, it would reduce the size of the bloated Big Four – Bank of America, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan-Chase and Wells Fargo – and make it harder for them to dream up the risky, Las Vegas-like schemes and instruments that contributed largely to the financial chaos of the past two years. It would lower the odds that any Wall Street colossus would be regarded as “too big to fail” and therefore eligible to require multibillion-dollar bailouts from Uncle Sam (i.e., the nation’s taxpayers.).

Ben Boyce at Empire Report – February 15, 2010

Well, it turns out that we are not powerless, after all. We are not a nation of widows and orphans. Collectively, the American people have vast amounts of money that can be transferred into financial institutions that serve their communities. Credit unions, community banks, union co-ops are deeply rooted in the real economy of their regions. They have skin in the game, and they make money by helping businesses and individuals to succeed. They deserve our money, not these huge national banks that are like parasites on the host of the body politic. So, I am encouraging you to make the move, pull your money out of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, Citibank, etc., and bet on yourself and your community by moving your money to a local bank that has a stake in the health of the local economy. The convenience factor is simply not a good excuse. You don’t need to have ATM’s in every city in the state. You can get cash back at any supermarket or convenience store. Move your money and feel the rush of empowering yourself and sticking it to the Wall Street fat cats.

Mike Garner at Subprime Blogger – February 15, 2010

If you are looking to get the best online checking account rates then you may want to consider moving your money to community banks. There are many local community banks spread throughout the country that are offering interest rates above 4% on checking accounts. It would be wise to gain a higher yield on your checking account through these local community banks.

Most national banks are not offering an interest rate above .4% no less 4%. If you do research on local community banks in your area you could find there are several options available that will give you a very attractive yield. Please understand that not every area will have a community bank that is currently offering high interest rates on checking accounts.

Chris Sturr at Dollars and Sense - February 12, 2010

And if you still have money in one of the big banks, put it in a credit union! But needless to say, don’t expect that to bring down capitalism or even to make it appreciably less nasty, except maybe with respect to your own overdraft fees.

Christopher J. Petherick at AmericanFreePress.net – February 12, 2010

Are you sick and tired of waiting for Washington to rein in Wall Street and shut down the Money Trust? A new financial movement is putting the power back into the hands of Main Street by giving consumers the ability to take their money out of the coffers of the so-called “too-big-to-fail” financial firms and put it into accounts at smaller, locally owned community banks.

Called the “Move Your Money” campaign, new technology on the Internet is allowing individuals and businesses to tap into online databases to search for local community banks. All a person has to do is enter his zip code, and he can find a local bank near his home. The idea is that he can then close down his account at one of the top banks, such as Bank of America, JP Morgan or Citibank, and open a new one at his community bank. Upon entering my own zip code, this writer found 21 banks within 30 miles of my home.

Raul A. Carillo at the Harvard Crimson – February 12, 2010

Ultimately, moving money into community banks serves a greater purpose than populist retribution and perhaps even greater than rapid recovery. Community banks can help restore trust in the banking system and the economy in general. Perhaps the kind of neighborly faith found in Capra’s film is long gone. There are few George Bailey’s around any more, if there were ever many. But we would all do well to remember that a moral order undergirds American capitalism and being able to trust the person behind the money counter is key to both our material prosperity and social welfare.

Ross Levin at OpEdNews – February 12, 2010

If you really want to change the world, you can’t just move your money. Go to the annual meeting where the board is elected. Maybe you’ll win the door prize. Find out who the current board members are. Meet them. Get to know their vision for the CU, and let them know yours. Remember that this is like the local PTA, except that it controls how a significant amount of money is invested in your community.

Pretty damn cool. Beats writing your umpteenth letter to your Senator about re-regulating the banks only to get a form letter in response and a bird-flip when it comes to a vote in committee.

Megan Carpentier at the Washington Independent – February 11, 2010

Unlike the home mortgage crisis, however, the banks serving those communities aren’t large, out-of-state Wall Street giants: they’re quite often local community banks. Those banks are a cornerstone of Obama’s strategy to ease credit restrictions to allow businesses to hire more people and to help individuals stay in their homes. They are also the cornerstone of Arianna Huffington’s “Move Your Money” campaign to encourage people and state and local governments to transfer their money to smaller, local banks in an effort to benefit local economies.

Daniela Perdomo at Alternet - February 11, 2010

Taking a cue from the populist power behind the Move Your Money campaign, which urges Americans to move their money from the big banks to local community banks and credit unions, Break Up With Your Bank is calling on exploited bank consumers to call attention to the abusive practices they suffer at the hands of bailed-out too-big-to-fail banks.

R.V. Scheide at the Sacramento News & Review - February 11, 2010

Back when I was banking with Chase, the only thing I expected more of was higher overdraft charges and ATM fees. I wasn’t really expecting anything different when I switched to Sacramento Credit Union. I had no idea whether there was any difference between a bank and a credit union.

As it turns out, there is. When I enter my new bank, they don’t call me a customer, they call me a member, because I became part owner of the cooperative financial institution as soon as I opened a checking account. Loans and other financial services are available at lower interest rates, and while I have yet to comb through the credit union’s balance sheets, I’m fairly certain most of its loans are issued locally.

Jessica Lessenhop at the Santa Cruz News – February 10, 2010

Everyone loves to hate the big banks these days. So much so that a national movement called Move Your Money, which encourages individuals to take their money out of our nation’s biggest banks and place it with community banks and credit unions, has enjoyed a groundswell of support since it came out a month ago. Even local banks have noticed.

“We’ve seen the number of accounts [go up] as a result of Move Your Money,” says Mary Anne Carson, marketing director for Santa Cruz County Bank. “It is really making a difference for us, and I think people can feel good about the fact that their funds are going to local banks that will be reinvested in their community’s economy.”

David Ellis at CNN Money – February 10, 2010

Two months ago, John Andersen said he became so fed up with some of the practices of the big banks that he decided to close the KeyBank (KEY, Fortune 500) checking account he used for his Portland, Ore.-based carpet cleaning business The Lindey Company.

Andersen added that his decision was also driven by a desire to do business with a smaller lender that would make loans that would benefit the local community.

Nowadays, Andersen says he pays his bills from an account he opened at Sunset Science Park Federal Credit Union, a lender with such personalized service that they do not even use deposit slips, he notes.

George at Excalibur – February 10, 2010

It’s about the beginnings of this ‘move your money’ movement and about a real success story with the State of North Dakota and their own state bank. This has been proposed by someone running for governor of the State of Oregon as well.

It’s a good idea and the time has come for it to spread out across the nation so states can recover and use the People’s resources right at home where they need them instead of shipping those funds out of state or to the Federal government where it will be given away to the same bankers that are taking it now.

Paul Wachter at AOL News - February 10, 2010

Skip Those, Read This: The Huffington Post leads with its own analysis of a 65-0 New Mexico House vote to move the state’s money to credit unions and small banks. Since the new year began, Huffington has been urging people to move their money from big banks, which it largely blames for the financial crisis. It’s part of a “Move Your Money” campaign that you can read about here. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is not a fan of the campaign, though when asked about it he fails to explain why. New Mexico’s bill, which is supported by Gov. Bill Richardson, is opposed by big banks. “Sources said that despite the support for the bill, it still may face quiet opposition from the large bank lobby which may seek to stall or defeat the measure,” the Credit Union Times reports.

Von Kathrin Grünhoff at BR-Online (German) – February 10, 2010

Sound Money Matters - February 8, 2010

The idea behind move your money is that the big banks don’t care about the people. They don’t lend to small businesses. They don’t care about the community. Smaller, community banks are supposed to be more responsible and personal because you know the bankers personally. The organizers believe that a mass movement to smaller banks will force the big banks to be more responsible.

Debbie Spingarn at the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin – February 7, 2010

Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone answer the phone when I call? A friendly bank officer welcoming you into his or her office with a hot cup of coffee? Though it sounds utopian, at Norwood Bank, that’s what happens. The bank is a friendly, busy place and I’m assured that my money is insured not only to the FDIC $250,000 amount but higher than that through an association with Coop. Central Bank. Another plus: ATM cards can be used at any machine with a “SUM” logo with no additional fees.

The more I think about it, a community bank is the place for me. I left by opening up a new checking account to make my banking life easier, all the while making my own political statement against the scourges that are big banking.

Daniela Perdomo at AlterNet - February 5, 2010

The Move Your Money campaign has made many people realize that some elements of financial reform may lie in their own hands. While cynics may point out that populist reforms can only take you so far, one idea behind Move Your Money is that this grassroots take on financial reform — if it continues to have impact and grow — may actually increase the possibility of financial reform at the federal level.

The banking behemoths have used our dollars to destroy the economy. We can use those same dollars to fight back.

The Mount Vernon – Lisbon Sun – February 5, 2010

Of course, we in Mount Vernon-Lisbon don’t need to enter our zip. We’ve got Bridge Community Bank, Hills Bank and Mount Vernon Bank & Trust. All contribute greatly to our economy and quality of life. If you aren’t banking at one already, move your money.

Alex Miller at Summit Daily News – February 5, 2010

The idea is simple: Since the mega, “too big to fail” banks played fast and loose with our money and had to take government bailouts to stay afloat, we can, at the very least, express our displeasure by moving our money — or not patronizing them in the first place. After all, these banks are already back handing out big bonuses, are being stingy with lending and, so far as most of us can tell, have done little to prevent a similar meltdown in the future.

It’s hard to imagine the average schmo moving his pitful holdings would have much effect on institutions like Bank of America or Citigroup, but there’s certainly a psychological benefit to holding one’s money out of the hands of the Big Six. These banks control an enormous percentage of the financial market — too big to fail, indeed, and it would seem like a good thing to help even things out a bit, even in a small way.

politicalpartypooper at Firedoglake – February 3, 2010

Remember when I told you how you could protest in other ways? The simple answer is, protest with your feet. The Huffington Post promoted Moving Your Money…from large, bailed out banks, to small community banks. Let’s take that thought one step further, and move your investments, too.

Zane Fischer at the Santa Fe Reporter – February 3, 2010

When bloggers Arianna Huffington and Rob Johnson announced a New Year’s resolution “movement”—using a short movie made by Eugene Jarecki—to convince people to transfer funds to local banks, I came back out of my slumber. Why do I spend all of my time buying from local businesses and eating local food, only to store the money I use to make those local purchases with an abominable, non-local bank?

I appreciate the old Sunwest staff keeping their jobs throughout all the changes, and I’ll miss them and the familiarity we share. But a painful breakup doesn’t necessarily mean there’s animosity; it just means it’s time for some growth.

Chris Walters at the Consumerist - February 2, 2010

First, all “movement” talk aside, there are a couple of immediate benefits of community banking for many (not all) consumers: they frequently offer better deals and more personal customer service; and by taking your money out of one of the big six banks, you’re giving it less revenue to lobby against your interests at the government level.

Chris Camire at the Lowell Sun – February 1, 2010

Top officials at community banks throughout Greater Lowell said they have seen an uptick in the number of customers dropping large banks in favor of their institutions over the past year. Naturally, they hope the trend continues with efforts like Move Your Money.

At Enterprise Bank, the number of checking accounts increased by 45 percent in the past year. Overall deposit growth, which is the total amount of money invested in the bank, went up by 28 percent.

“I think we’ve benefited as a result of the backlash against Wall Street,” Enterprise CEO Jack Clancy said. “We’re so much different than the big banks. We’re like a local store compared to them.”

Adam Van Brimmer at the Savannah Morning News - January 31, 2010

Community banks may be fighting for survival on multiple fronts, but a citizens’ militia is mustering.

A grassroots campaign known as “Move Your Money” began last month. The Web-based effort encourages megabank customers to switch their deposit account business to local community banks or credit unions.

Marcus Rauhut at the Chambersburg Public Opinion – January 31, 2010

Patriot Federal Credit Union in Chambersburg, however, has seen customers move their accounts from larger institutions, a trend that Chief Operations Officer Michael Silvers said is the result of customers looking for a sense of security in troubling times.

“Our membership in the Cumberland Valley alone has grown by over 700 members,” Silvers said. “We increased over $23 million in new deposits. We believe this increase is due to members wanting to know that their money is safe and local.

Jim Gardner at the San Francisco Business Times – January 29, 2010

Mechanics has placed a link on its home page to the “Move Your Money” campaign, in which organizers encourage people to pull their money from big banks in protest for the billion-dollar bailouts. Plug in your ZIP code and Move Your Money provides a list of local community banks where you could put it instead.

Seeking Alpha – January 29, 2010

But with all those caveats, there is something interesting at work here — a bottom-up movement by individuals within a capitalist system making individual choices to help the system self-correct, as opposed to waiting around for the government to come up with a solution to the problem.

Michael Miller at the Anton News – January 29, 2010

How many billions of dollars could be saved or generated outright by leveraging New York State’s accounts and assets? How much could we save in local property taxes by refinancing debt through a state-owned bank? A county bank? State and local pension funds around the country now total $2.4 trillion, and management fees and transaction costs paid to big financial firms cost an extra $20 billion to $45 billion a year.

I don’t begrudge banks fees for services. After all, we are not Communists. But if the Wall Street banks won’t end their marauding against us, then we should systematically withdraw our patronage. It’s nothing personal. It’s only business, just as the big banks see their relationship to rank and file Americans.

Shawn J. Soper at the Maryland Coast Dispatch - January 29, 2010

While the mega-banks are faced with increased scrutiny and an insistence by the federal government to return to sound lending practices, the small community banks, such as the Bank of Ocean City, Calvin B. Taylor Bank, the Bank of Delmarva, Farmer’s Bank of Willards and several others in the area, have been doing it all along. As a result, more and more people are getting on the “Move Your Money” bandwagon.

“This has turned into a real grassroots effort and it’s starting to gain some momentum,” said Bank of Ocean City Executive Vice President Reid Tingle this week. “Local money is deposited and reinvested right in the community. We’re not in the business of selling off loans. The money deposited here is reinvested here.”

Renita Burns at Black Enterprise – January 28, 2010

Would you like to stick it to big banks? Well, you’re not alone. Apparently, that sentiment has been growing over the last few months as behemoth banks that were bailed out turn around and raise interest rates and cling to loans. In return, consumers are sticking it to “the man,” moving their accounts to community banks and credit unions. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that banks will feel the pinch.

Brad Tuttle at Time’s It’s Your Money blog – January 28, 2010

If you haven’t already checked it out, take a look at Move Your Money movement. The mission is simple: Get people to take their money out of gargantuan, always-scheming banks and put it into a community bank or credit union. There’s a search engine at the site that can lay out some of the options near your home. The local banking option will probably earn you more interest, and it’ll certainly be a more reasonable business partner.

Tim Knight at Slope of Hope – January 26, 2010

The bottom line is this – there’s no shortage of huffing and puffing on Slope about the banks. If you’re serious, then do something about it! My account isn’t going to mean that much to Bank of America, but it’s six-figures large, and that means there’s a seven-figure amount that they can no longer lend out (ahem, not that they’re lending much anyway these days). Take action! Leave your big bank! Take a stand! Move Your Money!

Jim Rubenstein at the Credit Union Times – January 25, 2010

Consumers are being driven in higher numbers to credit union Web sites as a result of the media and government focus on big bank practices, according to NAFCU and CUNA.

NAFCU, for one, said this week its “CULookup” locator has recorded “a tripling of volume” since the first favored mention of CUs appeared on New York pundit Arianna Huffington’s “Move Your Money” Web site.

Laurel S. Alberty at the Athens Banner-Herald – January 24, 2010

It is important for me to mention the local bank’s name, First American, only to make the distinction that it is truly locally owned. The children and grandchildren of the family who started the bank are actively involved in the day-to-day management and operations. You actually can go into the bank and sit down in person with the decision makers.

This is important because they know our community. Their customers also are their neighbors and the business owners whose services they engage.

The decisions they make have a direct impact on their hometown. And, these decisions are made right in the heart of downtown Athens.

Bob Sullivan at MSNBC’s Red Tap Blog – January 22, 2010

A tiny group of large banks dominate. In 2009, four banks — Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo — held 39 percent of all deposits in FDIC-insured banks, according to Reuters.

The high concentration of account-holders — combined with a low concentration of good will – certainly seems [to] create the potential for a mass exodus.

Carmen Nobel at TheStreet.com – January 22, 2010

Small businesses may have a better chance of securing a loan from a banker they know. If their money is in a community bank, they have a better shot at knowing the banker. After all, few people know JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon.

Lauren Ritchie at the Orlando Sentinel – January 22, 2010

What makes more sense than doing business with someone who knows your name and isn’t handing out absurd bonuses to executives in the midst of a recession where they’ve been forced to take tax money to stay afloat?

Jim Rubenstein at the Credit Union Times – January 21, 2010

Like CUs elsewhere, BECU [...] seeks to take advantage of new market opportunities afforded the industry by public anti-big bank attitudes stoked by the “Move Your Money” online campaign of political pundit Arianna Huffington.

Madeline Berstein in the Washington Times - January 21, 2010

Arianna Huffington’s “move your money” idea, promoted Dec. 29 on the Huffington Post, is brilliant. It urges us to move funds from the “too big to fail” banks into community banks in an effort to stimulate local lending, job growth and neighborhood services.

Stronger communities result in stronger cities, states and countries. In fact, they are the foundation of the solid edifice we call the United States. The ancillary benefit is to remove the means from the hands of those motivated by greed, ego and selfishness who feed their narcissism at the expense of ordinary people. Essentially, this would eliminate a black hole, where resources go in and nothing comes out.

Stephanie Kraft at the Valley Advocate – January 21, 2010

In many cases these are banks that do a lot of local lending and care about the communities in which they do it, because if the community goes down the drain, the value of their loans goes with it. They’re making more loans than larger banks, and many are very sound; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation says the best-capitalized banks in the country now are those with under $1 billion in assets.

To put a new twist on a familiar phrase, Think globally. Bank locally.

Jim Worth at the Cutting Edge! - January 19, 2010

The more people that move their money to better community institutions, the quicker the banking sector will become more transparent and stable for hard-working American families.

The process has already begun. Send an important message to the irresponsible banking giants by joining the thousands of Americans who have already moved their money. Let the Big Chief Bankers, who will be receiving millions of dollars in bonuses, know that you cannot participate in the extreme, almost criminal risks that they continue, without restraint, to take with your hard-earned money.

Andrew Leonard at Salon – January 19, 2010

Move Your Money is a way to assert independence and autonomy in a world that seems all too shaped by powerful forces beyond our control. And while J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon doesn’t appear to be shaking in his boots yet at the threat to his dominion, for a smaller, local bank, every new account makes a real difference. That’s more than enough reason to make a change.

Celia Murray at Morgan County Citizen – January 14, 2010

There is an alternative to the Big Four banks, an alternative which many of us in small town America are fortunate to have access to. The vast majority of America’s Main Street community banks avoided the greed and corruption that created the financial crisis. However, many of them are now struggling. The government policy of protecting the Big Four is badly hurting the small banks, which are having a much harder time competing in the financial marketplace. As a result, a system which was already dangerously concentrated at the top has become so.

Business Matters – January 14, 2010

I know how convenient it is to have you account at Bank of America or Chase or Citibank, I was stuck in the convenience situation myself. But I realized that I am part of the problem unless I take action personally. So I did, I opened my personal and business accounts at a local community bank.

The Island – January 14, 2010

I am now proud to say The Island is a customer of the Bank of Alameda, and that I am ending my relationship with that Big Bank. I am heartened to know that I can be part of something way bigger than me, something that is at the same time so inherently local.

Fritz Mayer at the River Reporter – January 14, 2010

Most people are familiar with the continuing outrage against some of the biggest banks because of their federal bailouts and the fact that they helped lead the nation and the world to near financial catastrophe. What some might not have heard about is a budding movement to encourage consumers to move their money out of the big banks that caused the problems and into smaller community banks that are not too big to fail.

The Nation – January 14, 2010

“Move Your Money” is an electrifying slogan that’s lighting up the Internet because it shows people how they can push back against the big dogs of banking. The concept is simple, but this is a big idea that could alter the timid direction of financial reform.

This campaign is potentially more than a feel-good gesture. If coordinated with institutional reform efforts, it could lead to a broad rebellion against the financial system, with citizens reclaiming the power to act directly when politicians are too intimidated by moneyed interests to act in the public interest. Economist Jane D’Arista put it crisply: “We are not a nation of widows and orphans. We have quite a lot of money, and people control some of it. They might ask why they don’t control more of it.”

The University of Central Florida’s Central Florida Future – January 13, 2010

We support the idea behind Move Your Money. It is tiresome learning about each new scandal revolving around a top executive spending billions on bonuses instead of helping the people who are essentially paying those bonuses — the taxpayers.

Plus, we have seen how helpful community banks and credit unions can be in our town.

Phil Britt at insideARM – January 13, 2010

…a community bank might be in a better position to evaluate a borrower’s creditworthiness when there are extenuating circumstances with a familiar customer. In some cases, bank officers may be personally familiar with a borrower’s history, his community, and the economics of a deal that may mitigate bank risk. And finally, community banks have access to capital designated for specific economic development activity that global banks may not, like the 3 percent TARP funds for Small Business Lending the Treasury Department announced its plans to offer to banks with under $1 billion in assets.

Ed Liston at Benzinga – January 13, 2010

The concept of ‘Too Big to Fail’ in terms of banks has created holy cows of some of the largest banks in the US, which had their hands (hooves?) deep in murky deals that precipitated the global financial crisis. It is high time that measures are taken to get these giants in shape and make them set their house in order quickly.

Neil Manimala at the University of South Florida Oracle – January 12, 2010

Smaller financial institutions are better equipped to have a cooperative approach with customers because they are less riddled by debt, which means they can more freely lend money.

“Community banks are much more likely to reinvest that money in the community and actually help create jobs,” Huffington Post editor Arianna Huffington said on MSNBC.

No matter the impact, “Move Your Money” is a better public response to national bank bailouts than apathy or boisterous tea parties. It is a promising solution for Americans fed up with how their money is handled.

Jim Rubenstein at Credit Union Times – January 12, 2010

The recent surge in favorable coverage of credit unions by the national media, already bringing a flock of phone and e-mail inquiries to CUs across the country, triggered a new ad buy by a Denver CU that mentions New York Internet publisher and blogger Arianna Huffington.

The $1.1 billion Westerra CU said it took out ads in the Denver Post that reference the Huffington “Move your Money” anti-big bank campaign touted in a series of ABC and CBS network news reports and on the Internet over the holidays.

Aaron Task at Yahoo! Finance Tech Ticker – January 11, 2010

Other than gnashing your teeth, writing your Congressman or buying a pitchfork, there’s another potential cure for the bonus blues: Move Your Money.

A new grassroots campaign seeks to encourage Americans to move their money from the “too big to fail banks” [...] and into community banks.

The Week – January 11, 2010

“Move Your Money,” a new initative from Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, urges Americans to move their savings into small, community-based banks, thereby punishing the Big Four — Citibank, Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America — for triggering a financial crisis with their “reckless investments.” Though traffic has been pouring into the Move Your Money website, where search tools help consumers find a strong community bank near them, will enough people make the switch to send a significant message to big banks?

Heather Landy at American Banker – January 8, 2010

But down the road, the suspicion and anger that has been building toward big banks could cause damage at the margins. That may sound minor, until one thinks about how much of a company’s fate — particularly in industries becoming more and more commoditized — is decided at the margins.

Megan Garber at the Columbia Journalism Review – January 8, 2010

Want to know how to open a new bank account during your lunch hour? Here you go. Interested in moving your money to credit unions? Check out the National Credit Union Administration for info on specific organizations. Et cetera.

It’s an intersection of many of the functions of media, old and new—information, community, advocacy, effecting change—all enabled by the new social connectivity of the Web.

Patricia Sellers at Fortune’s Postcards blog – January 8, 2010

Are the populists taking over the world?

One rabble-rouser, Arianna Huffington, has concocted a remarkable stunt, which she calls the Move Your Money Project, to rally consumers to transfer their deposits from big banks to small community banks across the U.S. Alas, there’s no run yet on Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), or Wells Fargo (WFC). But the Move your Money campaign–which the blog queen dreamed up with her pals at a holiday dinner–now has more fans on Facebook than any of those money-center banks.

Laurent Belsie at the Christian Science Monitor – January 7, 2010

Take your money out. That’s right. Take your checking and savings account out of that big money-center financial institution and move it to a community bank or credit union.

Brattleboro Reformer – January 7, 2010

The Move Your Money campaign is not a substitute for a return to the regulatory regime that governed our financial institutions from the New Deal to the Reagan years, but it is a good first step.

Consumers can wield a tremendous amount of power by voting with their wallets, and by choosing to support banks, credit unions and savings and loans that support their communities. If enough of them do, the big banks might be forced to change their ways.

Andrew Leonard at Salon – January 6, 2010

But I find that I don’t really care whether switching my bank account from Chase to Mechanics Bank would strike a substantive blow against The Man. To refrain from action for such a reason would be defeatist. I’ve cast many a vote in elections where I knew my candidate would not win, but I did so anyway  because voting, to me, is a precious right and responsibility in a democracy. It’s a fundamentally self-affirming expression of agency. Likewise, taking back ownership of where to put my money will prove that I personally, am not just some flotsam floating on the remorseless tides of American capitalism, but someone with the will to choose my own fate.

Ellen Hodgson Brown at Dissident Voice – January 6 2010

For three centuries, the United States has thrived on what Benjamin Franklin called “ready money” and today we call “ready credit.” We can have that abundance again, by generating our own credit through our own state and local banks. Just as George Bailey needed a visit from an angel to point the way, so we just need the vision to see the possibilities.

Justin Fox at Time’s Curious Capitalist blog – January 6, 2010

And that’s really what’s useful about the Move Your Money campaign. It may not hurt the big banks in any appreciable way, as Martha White argued at The Big Money on Monday. But so what. It’s providing a lot of free advertising for small banks that are (a) less likely to prove a burden to taxpayers (b) more likely to reinvest your deposits in your community and (3) less likely to nickel and dime you than Citi or Chase or Wells or BofA are. What’s not to like about that?

Peter Rothberg at the Nation’s Act Now! blog – January 5, 2010

This year make a resolution to move your money away from the big banks that got us into the current financial crisis. Thanks to the informed volunteer services of a group called Institutional Risk Analytics (IRA), you can get a listing of the most sound community banks near you. (IRA lists only banks that, according government data, get a grade of “B” or better.) Find a local bank near you.

Heather Landy at American Banker – January 5, 2010

By the close of business Monday, the targets — Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. — still seemed to have their funding bases intact.

Still, the campaign has proven popular. It had more fans on Facebook than B of A, Citi and JPMorgan Chase combined.

Felix Salmon at Reuters.com – January 5, 2010

If the people with modest-sized checking accounts started leaving the big four banks for community banks and credit unions, that fee income would fall much faster than the banks’ deposit bases. That’s where the pressure from this campaign would really be felt.

And besides, the total balances leaving the banks would be more than $4,000 per account. People keep relatively small amounts of money in their checking accounts because those accounts don’t pay interest — checking-account funds are better off just about anywhere else, whether you use them to pay down credit-card debt or just invest them in a CD. If customers closed all their credit cards, savings accounts, in-house brokerage accounts, and the like when they left the bank, the net effect would be multiplied enormously.

Jere Hester at NBC Chicago – January 4, 2010

The reassuring message of Capra’s movie that we all matter and that living a good life counts for something in the end. Still, there are plenty of angry people seeking revenge on the Mr. Potters of the world.

Edward Harrison at Seeking Alpha – January 3, 2010

On the whole, I applaud the effort because a large part of the anger people feel stems from powerlessness in the face of the obvious crony capitalism and kleptocracy which our elected officials foster. This is a great way to both give people a sense they are empowered and to give politicians and Washington a sense that people mean business on this issue. Maybe it will effect change.

Gary North at Lew Rockwell – January 2, 2010

This makes sense economically. If you ever want a loan, get it from your own banker. If it’s a local bank, you will be treated well.

The FDIC insures all accounts up to $250,000. Your money is as safe in a local bank as a bailed-out mega-bank.

Milton Allinade at Black Star News – January 2, 2010

This is a good thing: for consumers to be able to exercise such power and end the monopoly of these banks, who have resumed multi-million dollar bonus payments to their executives even while families and businesses continue to suffer throughout this country.

E. Scott Reckard in the Los Angeles Times – December 31, 2009

The broadside complains that the big banks, after being propped up by taxpayer money and government guarantees, have returned to the high-risk activities that torpedoed the economy in the first place, while cutting back on lending to businesses and spending hundreds of millions of dollars to water down proposed restrictions on their operations.

Yim Fernholz at Newsweek’s the Gaggle blog – December 31, 2009

Aside from the personal benefits, this move makes sense for anyone uncomfortable with the bank bailouts (which is just about everyone) as a way to meaningfully express their views on public policy in their daily life. In the ’60s, the political became personal. In the past decade, it has become financial.

Vince Veneziani at Business Insider – December 30, 2009

The website features a crafty propaganda-style video that argues in favor of the S&Ls and tries to point out that they’re not responsible for the recent mortgage meltdown.

Basically, it’s a way of protesting the Too Big To Fail, bailout-dependent zombies with your dollars.

Truthdig – December 30, 2009

The filmmaker who gave us “Why We Fight” has crafted this powerful call to action out of scenes from “It’s a Wonderful Life” and documentary footage.

Rolfe Winkler at Reuters.com – December 30, 2009

When bloggers like me talk about creditors holding banks responsible for the risk they take, that includes bank depositors. If you have deposits in a bank — a CD, checking or savings account, for example — you are a creditor of your bank. Moving your deposits out of banks that benefit from too-big-to-fail guarantees is a tangible way you can protest bailouts.

Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic’s Daily Dish – December 30, 2009

Here’s an interesting idea that does not rely on government but can put pressure on the big four banks that just robbed us blind, threw so many out of work and are now refusing to make loans to people who need them: take your money out of the big banks and place it in community banks, ones that were not responsible for the meltdown.

George Washington at OpEdNews – December 29, 2009

Move your money from one of the companies that are treating the American Citizen like we work for them and who are holding the economy hostage to a company which has not been bailed out by us, and is not taking our deposits and using them to speculate in casino style gambling.

Felix Salmon at Reuters.com – December 29, 2009

The one thing I would urge though is that if you are moving your money out of BofA/Chase/Citi/Wells, that you strongly consider not only smaller banks but also local credit unions as a place to move your money to. The moveyourmoney.info website is happy to give me a list of local banks including Mitsubishi UFJ (no one’s idea of a small community bank), but doesn’t list any credit unions at all. Here’s a tool to help you find one. If you’re going to go to the hassle of switching away from the big banks, then at least make sure you’ve explored all the options.